


The Guy in the Elevator

by Neverever



Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon)
Genre: Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Pre-Canon, SA3, Secret Identity, Stevetonystudios, Team Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2019-01-03 21:45:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12155415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/pseuds/Neverever
Summary: Tony meets a gorgeous guy in the elevator but something's not right. Steve is stuck in limbo, but he meets a handsome guy who catches his eye. Meanwhile there is a rampaging supervillain and the world might just need a new superhero team.





	The Guy in the Elevator

**Author's Note:**

> Tony and Steve meet in an elevator and start their journey towards founding the Avengers, Avengers Assemble-style.
> 
> This was written for the fabulous [ Superhusbands Aluminum Anniversary Anthology](https://stevetonystudios.tumblr.com/), nearly 600 pages of wonderful SteveTony fanart and stories. The anthology can be downloaded [here.](stevetonystudios.itch.io/sa3-anthology)

Visiting SHIELD was different now. 

Tony was stuck in traffic heading towards the New York SHIELD office. Once upon a time, he wouldn’t have had time to talk to SHIELD -- when he didn’t bother with small potatoes. Now, he was concerned about impressing the communications guys with his new satellites. Better to be sweating the small stuff, and even better to have his soul back.

“How much longer?” Tony asked Happy.

Happy grumbled. “Not far -- depends on the traffic lights.”

Right. Tony tapped his fingers on his knee and checked his phone. His news feed was filled with stories about Captain America. The good ol’ Captain had an important birthday anniversary and there was a constant stream of documentaries and museum exhibits about the man. Tony had already done his share of interviews talking about his father’s relationship with Captain America. 

What would Captain America think about Iron Man? 

Tony snorted at the thought. He had worshipped Captain America when he was a kid, even dressed up like him for Halloween. Now Tony was his own superhero. But in his weaker moments, he liked to think that Captain America would approve.

Happy deposited him at the curb of the SHIELD offices. No fanfare, no notice, just another suit. Before, he would have been ushered in like a combination rock star/Santa Claus to dole out weapons and tech like party favors. Now he had to clear security just like the other low-level government contractors. Even when he handed over Fury’s name as the reason for his visit, he still got the stink eye from the guards in the lobby of SHIELD headquarters.

Honestly, he didn’t mind the change. He was out of the weapons business now. The glowing circle in his chest constantly reminded him of the personal cost of his previous life. And nothing any government or business could offer him could possibly tempt him to go back.

He headed towards towards the elevator that would whisk him upstairs to Fury’s office. This elevator was usually empty, since it only went to the top floors where all the SHIELD brass had their offices. But today, there was a man in the elevator who wasn't decked out in the usual navy-blue SHIELD uniform. 

“Going up?” Tony asked cheerfully. He should have developed a need for self-preservation leading him to be wiser when it came to the unusual and strange. But he wasn’t going to let his time in the cave change him. 

“Yes,” the man in the blue shirt and khakis replied. He visibly swallowed as he talked, as if the very action of talking was dangerous.

Tony hesitated -- he didn’t know who this guy was. He could have been anyone. But he was about to be late to his meeting with Fury. And maybe his head was turned because this guy was the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen, with broad shoulders, bright blue eyes, and sun-kissed blond hair. 

The man noticed Tony’s hesitation. His face crumpled before he attempted a half-hearted smile. “I’m a SHIELD agent, um, trainee.” He held up his official badge. “Trainee,” he repeated.

Tony didn’t catch the name but the badge looked official enough and the guy’s picture was on the badge. And he felt bad for the guy who was clearly Going Through Bad Stuff. Maybe that’s why he was in civvies -- lost a friend or partner, something like that -- and Blondie was on leave. He got on the elevator and punched in the floor. The guy was going to a different floor, one of the classified ones. 

“So how about the weather? It’s going to be one hot day,” Tony said with what he hoped was one of his multimillion dollar smiles.

“I haven’t been outside for awhile,” Blondie replied.

“That’s terrible because it’s A-plus beach weather.”

Blondie turned to look at him with a slight smile on his lips. Wonderful. Tony was working his usual magic.

“I’d love to go to the beach,” Tony continued. “But I’ve got a day of meetings.” There was a time when Tony would have cleared his entire schedule to go to the beach or jet to Europe, wherever he wanted to go, and bribe and cajole Blondie to join him. Now, he was Being Responsible and it put a nice spring in his step. “Summer’s going to be over sooner than you think -- you should tell Fury to let you out for the day.”

Blondie nodded grimly. “Right,” he replied, his whole body now rigid and stiff. 

Trapped in uncomfortable silence, Tony focused on the numbers display as the elevator rose. He was immensely glad when the elevator stopped at his floor and he could flee. Something was seriously wrong with the guy in the elevator, and Tony had managed to make it infinitely worse with small talk and a little bit of flirting.

~~~~~

Fury wasn’t happy to see him, Tony could tell as soon he crossed the threshold into his office. And to be honest, today’s appointment was a command performance set up over a month ago. The odd thing was that Fury looked like he hadn’t slept for a couple of days. Fury never appeared in public with a hair or an eyepatch out of place. 

“Stark,” he growled in greeting.

“Fury,” Tony replied. “You wanted to see me?”

Surprisingly, Fury glanced down at his computer screen and frowned slightly. “Right. I wanted to talk to you about redesigning the helicarrier’s engines.”

“Really?” Tony already had formed some negative opinions about the current engines from the couple of times he’d been on the helicarrier. “Because you could use the help.”

“Yeah, I’ve arranged for a tour after your presentation.” He turned back to his computer.

A few minutes of uncomfortable silence passed. “Is there another reason you wanted to meet?” he asked Fury. Tony had totally expected to be lectured at for not selling weapons to SHIELD. That what usually happened at this point in his meetings with Fury.

Fury started, seemingly shocked that Tony was still there. “No, just the helicarrier’s engines. That’s all.”

An admin stuck her head in the doorway, “Captain Rogers to see you, sir.”

Fury sat up straighter and fidgeted with a pen on his desk. “Find Barton and give me a minute.” He turned his full attention to Tony. “How long will it take to do the redesign?”

“Depends on how much engineering I’ll have to do. I won’t know until I see what I’m working on.”

“We’d all prefer sooner than later,” Fury stated. Tony felt a sudden reassurance hearing the normal Fury growl. 

Tony knew he’d been dismissed. As he stood up, Tony’s sharp eyes caught a note on Fury’s otherwise immaculate desk. The note had a single word -- “Loki?” Tony’s curiosity went off the charts.

“Aren’t you on your way somewhere else?” Fury asked pointedly. “A presentation to the scientists or something? Your tour guide is waiting outside.”

“Yeah,” he replied. He tucked the name ‘Loki’ away for future research.

~~~~~

Clint Barton, Agent of SHIELD -- just Clint, please -- was waiting outside Fury’s office, flipping through his phone. He adjusted his glasses when he saw Tony approach. “I’m on Stark babysitting duty?” he asked the admin.

The long-suffering woman didn’t even look up from her computer. “Yes. Director Fury assigned you to take Mr. Stark on a tour of the helicarrier after his presentation. Mr. Stark is allowed to take pictures, measurements, notes, anything he needs to evaluate the project Fury hired him for.”

A couple of months ago, for some reason, Fury had designated Clint as Tony’s official guide when Tony toured SHIELD’s facilities. Clint wasn’t a bad guy to hang around with, but he had a terrible talent for not telling Tony anything he wanted to know gossip-wise. 

“Where to?” Clint asked. He checked his phone. “Right, Satellites for Dummies and SHIELD Agents.”

“I wonder if you like working here,” Tony observed as Clint ushered him to their next destination.

Clint shrugged. “It’s not bad. I help save the world every other month and get all the crappy coffee I can drink.”

“But there’s Fury --”

“Fury’s not the problem,” Clint muttered. His face darkened. “Forget I said that. Come on -- there’s probably already a crowd waiting for you.”

~~~~~

Tony stopped by the cafeteria to grab something quick to go with his coffee before Clint took him to the helicarrier docked nearby. Clint had rescued him from being swarmed by SHIELD scientists after his amazing even-if-he-said-so-himself presentation.

Now Tony pondered the general awfulness of his coffee choices -- bad, worse, and something awfully like helicarrier grease. He should probably stick with bad. As he turned he was surprised to bump into Carol Danvers. He’d met her a couple of years ago through his best buddy Rhodey. 

“Carol?” he questioned.

“Hi, yep, I’m on loan to SHIELD,” she offered by way of explanation. “So what’s up with you, Stark? Beside the all-new science things.”

“Just working hard to make the world a better place.”

Carol shot a look over at Clint who had wandered off to say hello to a blonde agent. She dropped her voice. “Hey, I wonder if you could tell me something -- now that your watchdog is gone. Something big happened last week. Real big. And no one, and I mean no one, is talking about it. Three entire floors were suddenly declared classified.”

“Oh?” Tony said, raising an eyebrow.

“I know! I tried to cash in a favor or two – but no takers. I can usually worm a hint or two out of people when I flash the SWORD badge. It’s crazy.”

Clint sidled up to them. “If it’s classified, it’s classified, Danvers.”

She nudged Clint with an elbow. “Oh, come on, Barton. It’s not like you or your partner in crime haven’t been asking the same questions all over the place.”

“Yeah, well, we’re not obvious about it.” He turned to Tony. “We’re on a schedule.”

“Okay --” Tony turned to Carol. 

“Catch you later, Stark.”

Tony noticed that the guy from the elevator sitting in the corner of the smallish cafeteria, his lunch or early dinner or whatever untouched in front of him. Tony felt unnerved again. The guy was undeniably gorgeous and just Tony’s type. 

But the cafeteria was full of SHIELD agents doing the lunch thing and there was Hunky-not-so-Dory sitting all alone. “What’s the deal with that guy?” he asked Clint.

“Him?” Clint asked. “He showed up about a week ago or something. He’s a new agent or recruit or something. Don’t know much about him.”

Before Tony could ask another question, Clint’s phone buzzed at the same time as a loud ringing alarm went off. “Helicarrier tour later.”

“What’s going on?”

“Ever hear of the Hulk? That’s what’s going on,” Clint said as he hustled Tony toward the exit.

~~~~~

Stretched out on his bed in the barren room SHIELD had assigned him, Steve stared at the ceiling. He had already counted all the little holes in the acoustical panels in the ceiling. A couple of times over to be honest. 

SHIELD had found him in the ice two weeks ago. Since then they treated him like he was a fragile piece of glass, his days filled with history classes, medical tests and training and nothing else. He wasn’t allowed to leave the building. It’s not that they said he couldn’t leave, it’s just that permission was never given. Everyone walked on eggshells around him, afraid of upsetting him, like he was a grenade primed to explode.

He was fine. He knew he was fine and he’d even be better if he was allowed to leave the building. Or go on a long run outside. Or talk to people who weren’t carefully vetted SHIELD agents. Actually he wasn’t certain if he was angry because of being handled with kid gloves or because they thought he wouldn’t notice that they were handling him with kid gloves.

Except for the guy he met on the elevator that day. The handsome gentleman with a great smile who tried to cheer him up. The guy seemed a bit nervous, but being in a SHIELD base could be nerve wracking for anyone. Then he saw him again later with Clint Barton. Steve had been sort of introduced to Agent Barton the other day. Barton could tell him who that guy was.

Not that it mattered. Fury wasn’t likely to let Steve out of his sight anytime soon. Steve might as well start counting the holes in the panels all over again since that was the only thing no one scheduled him to do.

It felt like he was back in the ice.

~~~~~

Nothing Tony had experienced before as Iron Man had prepared him for a rampaging Hulk. 

“What’s going on here, JARVIS?”

“SHIELD databases indicate that you have met the Hulk.”

He had gotten a call to respond to a break-in at a warehouse complex. He was expecting a small gang of easily corralled criminals. Instead he got something bigger than your standard giant, ripping shipping containers apart like they were made of tissue-paper. 

“Sir, I recommend caution before engaging,” JARVIS reported. 

Tony ignored the streaming data flowing across the HUD screens. One blast from the unibeam and the police could cart Mister Jolly Green off to jail for processing. He hovered into position and took aim and shot out a blast that would have leveled a skyscraper.

Hulk shook off the blast as if it was a plague of tiny gnats. He growled and took a swing at Tony. Tony was thrown back several feet from the blow. 

“Damage report?”

“Sir, power levels are low.”

“And?”

“SHIELD is on their way to your location. Estimated time of arrival is 7 minutes.”

Tony made a habit of avoiding SHIELD when he was out and about as Iron Man. Too many questions, and Fury might make a grab for the armor. But he wasn’t keen on leaving the Hulk free to rampage. He aimed a repulsor at the giant. Not that the palm repulsors could much damage, given how the guy had shaken off the unibeam.

SHIELD vehicles pulled up with flashing lights and blaring sirens. Hulk stopped tearing into a shipping container long enough to figure out what was going on and fled the scene in two earthshaking jumps into the night. 

“Sir, I recommend you take your leave as well.”

Tony noticed the SHIELD agents had trained their guns on him. Yeah, time to leave the party. 

~~~~~

Steve gritted his teeth and listened as politely as he could to the SHIELD tutor. He got computers, cell phones and how to microwave food. What he wasn’t comfortable with was the vast number of food choices in the SHIELD cafeteria or the crowd of skyscrapers in the New York skyline. No one wanted to talk about that, they wanted to talk about programming DVRs and understanding the Internet.

He wanted to scream. He’d figured out the Internet in five seconds after he was shown his first computer, and here he was listening to a guy the same age he was talking at him about new technology. In his grimmest moments he wondered if this was a new form of torture developed by HYDRA and all of this was a dream.

It was possible, he guessed. Steve had gone from battling Red Skull on a speeding missile with Bucky over the North Atlantic to waking up in an antiseptic recovery room in a SHIELD building 70 years later. That was over six weeks ago. He spent the first days in a fog mourning Bucky and his past life.

Now he was bored to tears listening to people tell him things he could figure out on his own. Even Fury, who ran everything, didn’t seem to know if he should talk to Steve like he was a young but seasoned SHIELD agent or a legendary soldier. At least Steve had finally talked Fury into letting him visit the firing range and sling the shield around.

What Steve truly wanted was someone to tell him if it was okay to ask Tony Stark out. He found out that the guy with the million-watt smile was the son of a brilliant engineer he’d worked with in the war. But what fascinated him was how smart Tony was. Steve had wrangled a stack of magazines with stories about Tony, his inventions and discoveries and his plans and hopes for a great future for all humans.

Steve shouldn’t have a crush on the guy. Bad timing, grief and sadness and all that. But in the future he woke up in he should be able to ask a guy out for coffee. He might be aiming a bit high by thinking of Tony Stark, of all people. But Steve had never yet been deterred by massive odds against him.

It would be helpful though if someone would just let him out of the damn SHIELD building.

~~~~~

Tony arrived for his helicarrier tour a couple days after meeting the Hulk. He waited by the elevators for Clint, watching a group of SHIELD Academy cadets getting their introduction to the New York SHIELD offices. He sipped his coffee as their instructor recited the standard set of facts about the building. Then the cadets were herded towards the same bank of elevators where Tony was standing.

“Hey -- wait -- is that Tony Stark?” one of the cadets asked. He fumbled around in his backpack and pulled out a magazine and a pen. He approached politely. “Mr. Stark? Could you sign this?”

Tony beamed at the smart kid who clearly knew his famous engineers. And look at that, the kid had handed him that issue of Futura with him on the cover. “Sure, kid. What’s your name?”

“Sam Wilson, SHIELD Cadet.”

“Nice to meet you, Sam.” Tony dashed off his autograph and handed the magazine back to the cadet. He’d have to look up this Wilson kid for future reference.

“Meeting first,” Clint breathlessly announced as he ran up to Tony.

“What?”

“I said meeting first -- Fury wants to see you before I take you to the helicarrier.” Clint unceremoniously shoved him into an elevator.

Fury barked, “Nice of you to join us, Tony.”

Standard conference room, standard SHIELD agents, images of the helicarrier projected on a whiteboard. Tony took a breath and got ready to talk engines, since that was obviously what Fury wanted from him. He walked to the board, already anticipating the questions.

It took him a second to realize that the room had turned deathly silent. Or maybe everyone just froze in place when that cute trainee guy from the elevator arrived at the door. 

“Mind if I sit in, Director Fury?”

Tony had never seen Fury look confused and annoyed and ticked off and at a loss for words all at the same time. “Yes, Captain Rogers, take a seat.”

So Hot & Mysterious had a name -- Rogers -- and obviously was an important somebody, based on Fury’s reaction. Quite a few of the other people in the room didn’t know who Captain Rogers was, considering the sidelong glances they were giving. But Tony wasn’t going to complain, he got to talk about engines in front of a good-looking guy who was capable of driving Fury quietly up the wall.

At the end of the impromptu meeting, Clint hustled Tony out of the room, propelled by a stern look from Fury. Clint took him to the docked helicarrier.

“What was that about?”

“I know!” Clint replied. “I have no idea who that guy was -- he sure made Fury angry. I want to know what that Rogers has on Fury. It’s got to be good and juicy if he can drop in on a high level meeting on a whim.”

They headed down a helicarrier corridor to the engine room for an up-close and personal meeting with the engines. “So is this what you wanted to see?” Clint asked.

“Exactly,” Tony replied as he stood on the catwalk looking over one of the massive engines that kept the helicarrier in the air. 

Tony took out his phone and turned on the flashlight. “What went wrong here?” he asked. He traced chipped metal and burn marks on the electrical panels next to the catwalk. He walked back to the service corridor. “Looks like something bad went down.” He glanced back at Clint, who was whistling and looking aimlessly around. Tony shifted to one foot. “Spill it, Clint.”

“Look, there’s this guy -- calls himself Loki -- he attacked the helicarrier but we don’t know why. He didn’t take anything or destroy anything.”

“He was down here?”

“That what I think. He had the Hulk with him.”

Tony nodded. “Hulk was the distraction?”

“Maybe,” Clint drawled. 

“So what happened?”

Clint shrugged. “We were patrolling, minding our own business and a flying Hulk came out of nowhere and landed on the deck. You can guess what happened next and if it wasn’t for Captain -- well, uh. We found this damage later.”

“Hmmm.” Tony stroked his chin. He took out a tablet to take notes. He tried to pry more details out of Clint, but Clint clammed up and refused to give up a single detail.

As they left, they ran into another agent, a red-haired woman. “My partner in crime, Natasha Romanoff,” Clint said by way of introduction.

Natasha coolly assessed Tony as she proceeded to talk only to Clint. “We’ve got a mission. Can you ditch Stark?”

“Guess our playdate is over, Tony,” Clint said with a smirk.

~~~~~~

Tony was arms deep into fixing his latest suit of armor and listening to JARVIS reel off various news stories. None of which involved Hulk or the mysterious Loki. There was an odd report of strange flashing lights and lightning in upstate New York but a scientist claimed it was just a northern lights sighting.

“JARVIS, find, compile and report on all data and information you can find on the Hulk.”

JARVIS rattled off the Hulk’s vital stats, sightings and police encounters, SHIELD reports and information about General Ross and the Hulkbusters. He noted in particular that the Hulk had only appeared in the news approximately three months ago -- lots of news reports and opinion pieces, nothing about a base of operations or where he went after his rampages. JARVIS observed that while reporters breathlessly described the expensive and extensive property damage caused by the Hulk, the number of deaths attributed to the Hulk were not based on fact. General Ross seemed to be the source of most of the fake reports. But the disappearance of the well-known scientist Bruce Banner could be connected to the Hulk, given that Banner had not been seen since the Hulk attacked and destroyed his lab and several surrounding buildings.

Hmmm, he’d met Banner a couple of years before at a conference. He didn’t remember the conference all that much, except for the free-flowing drinks at the bar. Banner was involved in groundbreaking work with gamma radiation. Interesting work for an interesting guy. 

The odd thing was that Hulk didn’t seem to be into causing gratuitous property damage until a week ago. Before he seemed to be actively avoiding people and leading a peaceful existence.

Something had changed.

Then, Tony tapped the floor thoughtfully. He’d have to sift through JARVIS’ reports carefully. But for now, all he could tell was that someone else was behind the Hulk's recent attacks, including the one on the helicarrier. Didn’t seem to be the Hulk’s style.

“JARVIS -- what can you find on Loki?”

“The Norse myth?”

“Not that Loki. A different one.”

“Obviously.”

~~~~

Tony swung by SHIELD a few days later. He honestly didn’t need to visit the helicarrier again since he could have easily completed the engine work from his tower. But he was secretly hoping to see the mysterious Captain Rogers again.

He wasn’t disappointed. 

Captain Rogers was seated, holding a tablet, where Tony usually met Clint. He looked like he was on official business. But Tony wasn’t so sure. Especially when Rogers all but jumped to his feet to say hello. “Tony Stark?” he asked, holding out his hand. 

Tony gladly shook it. Warm, strong, firm -- all the elements that made Tony weak in the knees. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.”

“Steve Rogers,” the man replied. “Steve, if that’s okay --” 

Then Steve gave him a real, genuine smile that warmed Tony right down to his toes, like a cup of piping hot soup on a cold winter’s day. Tony had gotten a handful of smiles like that in his life and hoarded them for the rotten days. This one blew them all away.

“Sure. Steve.” Tony couldn’t believe that he was managing to keep it together under that bright-blue gaze. “Are you my babysitter today?”

A slight look of confusion crossed Steve’s beautiful face, then he nodded. “Agent Barton is, um, busy, on a mission.”

“Then take me to the helicarrier -- I need to see the fourth engine room.” On his last visit Tony had noticed a structural modification that hadn’t made it to the blueprints. The modification had been his excuse to return and now he hit pay dirt with meeting up with Steve. 

Steve laughed at his jokes. Tony had no idea until the first grin and snort that all he ever wanted in life was a Steve laugh. Now he couldn’t live without it. Or the smiles. Steve knew before he asked if Tony needed a measuring tape or a flashlight. Really, he had no idea how he functioned before Steve, who had been in his life for about 45 minutes at last count. 

And Steve could sketch, too. Tony found that particular skill rather handy as he had difficulty snapping pictures of the engine room with his phone. He pointed Steve in the direction of what he needed and Steve quickly drew the engine part, or the angle of the room or anything. He’d hold up his tablet and Tony would give him a thumb’s up. 

Two people working like they had been teammates forever. Tony had had that so rarely in life that he really knew how precious a good partner was. And mystery-man Steve was a blessing.

“So what do you do here at SHIELD?” Tony asked, ready to offer Steve a job at Stark Industries. All Steve needed to do was name his salary and Tony would whisk him away to a far better job than what SHIELD was offering.

“Nothing much,” Steve muttered. “Special projects,” he said louder, as if Tony didn’t hear what he’d said. 

“At Stark Industries, we do a lot of special projects --” Tony began his ‘come-work-at-Stark-Industries’ spiel.

“Hey, Stark -- are you here?” Clint shouted.

“Yeah -- in the back.”

“You’re not allowed in here without an escort --” Clint replied as he jogged up to them.

“I’m fine -- I’m with Steve Rogers.”

Clint stared down Steve and his tablet. “I don’t know if you have clearance.”

Steve looked coolly back at Clint. “I have clearance.”

“Did Fury give you my job?”

“No. I didn’t mean to interfere, Agent Barton. I should get going, now that you are here.”

Tony nearly shouted “no, don’t go,” but instead merely said, “Hope to see you later, Steve.”

Steve nodded tightly in return.

~~~~~

“What am I looking at?” Steve asked Fury. Fury had included him in a debrief about the Hulk and Loki situations. Maybe he would finally see some action and something outside of SHIELD headquarters that wasn’t a helicarrier deck.

“Footage of the vigilante Iron Man.”

Steve frowned as he watched the red and gold robot take down a small platoon of AIM agents. He liked the firepower and mobility, wondered how the robot would fight if disarmed. Would definitely be a significant asset on a team. Besides all that, he loved the sleek lines of the robot and the way it moved through the air with grace and power. 

He turned to Fury and the clutch of agents around the table. “He’s a superhero?”

“Came on the scene nearly a year ago. Mostly focused on the small stuff like bank robbers and would-be terrorists. Graduated to fighting AIM and the Ten Rings organization,” Fury said.

“Who owns it? The robot, I mean?”

“Not a robot. There’s a man or a woman under the suit of armor. We’ve studied enough film and crime reports to know that.”

Another agent said, “We don’t know if Iron Man is working with Loki and the Hulk.”

“We don’t know anything,” Fury replied firmly. “Iron Man could be fighting them too.”

Steve watched more of the footage. He ran a few searches on his tablet under the table on the Hulk and Iron Man. There had been a brief fight between them a week ago. But Steve wasn’t seeing anything that supported Hulk or Iron Man being on the supervillain side of things. He studied Fury’s carefully composed face. He had his suspicions about Fury’s intentions, yet for all the secrecy, Fury believed in saving the world.

Who was under that Iron Man armor? It would take a very intelligent and clever person -- possibly an engineer or inventor -- to build and control the suit. Someone who seemed to want to fight the good fight against criminals and supervillains and save people. 

“Who is Loki?” Steve asked.

Another agent groaned. “He claims to be from the realm of Asgard and dresses and talks like an escapee from a bad sci-fi film.” He mimicked horns over his head. “And he says he’s the Earth’s rightful ruler.”

“Okay. One of those,” Steve replied. Now he was in familiar territory, he could handle this.

~~~~~

Tony was busily glad-handing donors and members of the press at the latest Maria Stark Foundation event. At least this time he knew what charity he was raising funds for. Before the cave, he was never entirely certain why he was at any particular event. This one, though, was close to his heart -- fundraising for prosthetics for those injured by landmines. Like those once built by Stark Industries. One more step in Tony’s redemption journey, trying to make up for all the pain he once caused.

So he didn’t immediately notice when the tall, dark-haired man dressed in green and gold with a helmet of curved gold horns surrounded by men with guns entered the ballroom. Tony gathered that they were being attacked from the general screaming. Time for Iron Man. If he could get to a good spot to deploy the armor in private.

Henchmen bore down on him with flashing guns in the swirling smoke. Tony’s finger sat on the button to summon the suit. He took a deep breath and -- suddenly a large figure in a blue, red and white uniform with a shield jumped in front of him, knocking him backwards and deflected the fire.

“Mr. Stark, are you okay?” his patriotic savior asked anxiously.

Ordinarily Tony would have appreciated both the rescue and the rescuer’s nice deep voice. But this felt unreal. “Captain America?” he blurted. 

“Yes?” the man masquerading as Captain America responded.

“Thank you.” 

“Um, well -- it’s not -- um, anytime, Mr. Stark,” Captain America said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Tony narrowed his eyes at Captain America, who seemed strangely reluctant to leave. He had the sinking feeling that he was dealing with a replica Captain. Because the Captain America he had grown up hearing about would never have been described as awkward and tongue-tied. “What about your shield?” He pointed to the shield at Captain America’s feet.

“Perhaps Mr. Stark should be checked out by paramedics?” suggested a SHIELD agent who materialized out of nowhere.

“Yes, he should,” Captain America replied. He tipped the edge of his shield with the toe of his boot, flipping the shield back into his hands. “We should make sure the hall is cleared,” he said to the other agents now surrounding them.

Tony let the paramedics check him out and he had an excellent view of Captain America talking with Fury and the agents. Just standing there in his uniformed glory, like a legend come to life and filling space like he owned it, moving with purpose and authority that came easily to him. 

One paramedic said to the other, “Was that really Captain America?”

“He’s got the uniform,” the other paramedic said with a shrug.

The uniform was modern, an echo of the original costume. The shield looked right, but he’d have to run tests to see if that shield really was vibranium. Tony felt torn -- he wanted this guy to be the real deal, but it had been over 70 years since Captain America disappeared in the ocean. The warm fuzzies from being rescued by his childhood hero tamped down as Tony realized that something was very, very off with this whole scenario.

Tony’s rescuer was not The Captain America -- maybe A Captain America. Fury had something up his sleeve. And Tony was tied up in knots over the mystery, and he hadn’t even considered the weird guy in the odd helmet and fancy get-up. Had to be Loki, based on JARVIS’s reports. Not exactly what he was expecting from his charity event.

~~~~~

Tony made clear his intentions at SHIELD headquarters the next day.

“My army of highly experienced lawyers and I are going to sue SHIELD into the ground,” Tony said coldly. “I have no idea what possessed you and SHIELD to suit someone up in a Captain America outfit and unleash him in public. There has only ever been one Captain America and --”

Fury sighed. He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “I’m not in the mood for this, Stark. I’ll tell you about Captain America if you tell me about Iron Man.” He slammed a broken gauntlet on the table. “Start with why Iron Man armor has a Stark Industries trademark on it.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Shit, he lost that gauntlet last month during a break-in attempt at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Fury had probably had a herd of SHIELD scientists trying to reverse-engineer the gauntlet. 

“Then I have no idea what you’re talking about in regards to Captain America.”

“My lawyers will be in touch. My father worked with Captain America and he would have been outraged to see this.”

Fury looked at him with weary eyes. “Tony, don’t waste your breath. I don’t have to listen to your lawyers or your accountants or even Pepper Potts if you send her here. Let me know when you’re willing to talk Iron Man.”

When Tony emerged worse for wear from Fury’s office, he found Steve waiting. “I heard you were caught in a firefight and I wanted to see if you were okay,” he said. 

Tony’s ire evaporated at the sight of Steve. “Thank you -- I’m fine, got rescued by Captain America.” He gave the words a sardonic twist.

An odd look crossed Steve’s face. “Captain America bothers you?”

“No, not at all. Just a blast from the past -- my dad worked with him during the war and I grew up hearing all about him.”

“Oh.”

“It’s not like that was the real Captain America -- bet Fury has an army of gung-ho SHIELD agents training in secret just waiting to impersonate the Captain.”

“Or --”

Tony waved the words away. “Doesn’t matter. Everyone is going to see through Fury’s lies and imitation Captain Americas. The pretend Captain America doesn’t have a patch on the real Captain. Guy couldn’t even hold his fake shield the right way.”

“Is that Rogers out there?” Fury bellowed from his office. 

“Wow, super-sensitive hearing,” Tony remarked.

Steve pointed to a camera in the ceiling. “No -- just good surveillance.”

“Rogers, get in here,” Fury yelled.

~~~~~

For the record, Steve did not have Fury’s clearance or permission to leave SHIELD headquarters for any reason, much less to show up in uniform to rescue Tony Stark from Loki. He weathered Fury’s rage because he knew he’d done the right thing. Even if Fury now had to cook up some reason for having a Captain America impersonator on his staff.

Fury had developed a haunted look in his eyes and a facial tic whenever he talked with Steve. To be honest, Steve had seen the generals he worked with in the war with the same exact look. Especially after a risky mission that Steve had no business surviving that Steve had forgotten to tell the generals about. _Plus ça change_ ...

“What did I tell you about leaving SHIELD headquarters?” Fury finally said, leaning back in his chair.

“Not to do it.”

“And you did.”

“I rescued Tony Stark and his guests from an attack by Loki. Loki was intent on either destroying Mr. Stark or gaining access to Stark Industries. It was appropriate for me to provide assistance.”

“Have you seen the headlines?” Fury asked. He pulled up a number of news stories on his monitor to show Steve the headlines screaming about the return of Captain America. “And those are just the New York papers. I needed to keep you a secret, and now a picture of you some guest took is all over the news.”

“We should focus on capturing Loki -- who seems determined to carry out his plan --” Steve said, wanting to get back to the real problem.

“Understand this, Rogers -- you are still classified as top secret military intelligence. No one knows that Steve Rogers is Captain America. When you take a step out of this building, we’re violating every possible law in handling classified information.”

“I can’t keep hiding from the world,” Steve pointed out. “I could be out there doing some good for SHIELD.” Maybe meeting Iron Man too, he thought.

“Until I’ve sorted out your problems and get you declassified, no, you are not leaving SHIELD headquarters. And I command you not to talk with Tony Stark.”

~~~~~

Tony lay awake, thinking about Hulk and Captain America and whatever the hell Loki was. He turned over the name Steve Rogers in his mind. Meeting Captain America had shaken a few memories loose. Like when Tony sneaked out of his room after bedtime to listen to Howard telling after-dinner stories to his friends about helping Captain America in the war. Or when he’d been summoned to his father’s study where he stood at his father’s desk in the shadow of a shield model and framed pictures of the Captain.

He had thought it odd that his father never called Captain America by name. Ever. The identity of Captain America still remained classified, lending an aura of unreality to the historical figure. Like he’d been made by the government, which was a thriving conspiracy field -- “Was Captain America real?”

Someone had been put up by SHIELD to put on the star and stripes outfit, complete with patriotic shield. And now the ersatz Captain America worked for SHIELD as a secret operative.

Except a faint memory crept into his mind. His father and mother having drinks and talking on the patio at the beach house late at night. Howard telling his mother a story. No, talking about the end of the war, about what happened to Captain America. “All I know is that Steve and Bucky ran off after Red Skull and that missile. We never heard anything again.”

Steve. The first Captain America had been a Steve.

“JARVIS?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Find me all the information you can about Steves in the United States around the start of World War II who would have been about the same age as Captain America when he went MIA in ‘45.”

“That will take several hours to compile, sir.”

“Chop chop, we have mysteries to solve. And check for any new information about Loki while you’re at it.”

~~~~~

Steve spent a couple of days completely immersed in watching footage of Iron Man, Loki and the Hulk. And he had come to some conclusions. 

First of all, Iron Man was definitely one of the good guys. And if he didn’t have his handy-dandy repulsors or other armaments, he couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag. Steve could help with that if given the chance. 

Next, Loki and the Hulk appeared together a lot in recent footage. It wasn’t easy to see Loki hidden in the shadows or lost in the crowd. He didn’t always wear the helmet. Before he appeared with Loki, Hulk stayed to himself, avoiding cities and crowds. Which made Steve think that Loki was using Hulk. Steve wasn’t inclined to make an innocent green giant miserable because he was under mind control or something like that. 

His third conclusion was that Loki was bad news, with a capital Bad. His attacks were disruptive and provided coverage for sabotage and theft. That attack on Tony Stark -- that could have been easily a cover for stealing from Stark Industries.

His final conclusion was that one of the first things he was going to do when he was sprung from SHIELD jail was to ask Tony Stark out for coffee. He could manage that and possibly not mess it up. Tony liked his jokes. That was a good thing, and enough to encourage him. 

He’d had a hard time finding the right person before the serum or anybody who might have had the slightest interest in him. That might not have been the problem now -- the problem was that he had never met anyone like Tony Stark before and that changed everything.

~~~~~

Tony watched yet another news report that morning on Hulk’s attacks. For once, he wished he wasn’t a solo superhero. A team could take on Hulk and Loki. A team of superheros. 

Where could he find people like that willing to help out Iron Man?

“Sir, I have finished compiling a report on all the Steves in the United States who --”

Tony sprang to his feet. “Great, JARVIS, send it to my computer.” He nearly ran over to the screens to read through the report.

“I should point out, sir, that the number of men of the appropriate age named Steve --”

Tony ignored his AI to rapidly scroll through the long list of names. One iteration of Steve popped out at him -- the short list of Steve Rogerses. Steve Rogers, like the SHIELD agent. Amused, Tony asked, “JARVIS, can you find pictures of these Steve Rogers?”

“It will take a few minutes.”

Tony turned his attention back to the news. Now the reporters were talking about a picture someone took of a man cosplaying as Thor, complete with a hammer named Mjolnir. The man looked far more serious than a cosplayer should look. And who the hell dressed up as Norse gods these days?

“Sir, your requested file is ready.”

Tony tapped through the small file of photos. Not every Steve Rogers was represented, but one blurry black-and-white photo caught his attention. A scrawny guy in suspenders and pants too big for him. That guy had a shit-eating grin and a glint in his eye that a guy his size shouldn’t have or else he was going to be in a lot of trouble all the time and end up dead.

Steve Rogers. Light-haired, probably blond. Light-eyed, possibly blue. From Brooklyn.

Tony nearly spit out his coffee. It was the eyes. He’d seen those eyes before. And now he had tons and tons of questions that needed answers. Because there was no way on earth that his Steve Rogers and that Steve Rogers from 1939 could be the same person. Could they?

He was going to rescue Steve Rogers -- who just might be Captain America -- from SHIELD even if it killed him. He needed to get answers to his questions. And a little help taking down Loki and the Hulk. Wasn’t too much to ask. 

~~~~~

Tony pulled the hoodie tighter over his head and headed into the deserted garage. Clint had suggested that they meet there instead of at a coffee shop or more public area. In case of trailing SHIELD agents, given that Fury had heightened suspicions of Tony’s extracurricular activities. 

Clint, as promised, was already there, sitting at a table with his fellow agent and seeming best friend Natasha. “Sooo, Stark, what’s up?”

“We’re going to spring Captain America from SHIELD to fight Loki.”

Clint glanced over at Natasha, who arched a single eyebrow in response. He leaned back twirling an arrow between his fingers. “So let me get this right. You want us to go into SHIELD headquarters -- the place where we work and get our paychecks -- and spring Captain America -- who doesn’t know any of us from a hole in the ground -- from Fury Jail.”

Natasha gave Tony a long appraising look. “Stark is being completely serious.”

“Yeah, but isn’t Captain America like Fury’s super-secret project that no one is supposed to know about? Hell, we don’t even know his name. That’s still ultra top top secret classified.”

“But that’s who we need to stop Loki,” Tony said. 

Natasha looked extremely thoughtful. “Right now, all we have is Tony as Iron Man, you and me. We could use more firepower.”

“We need a lot more than that,” Clint said.

Tony sputtered. “Wait -- how did you know that I am Iron Man?” 

Natasha gave him an unbelieving look. “It’s not hard to figure out -- Iron Man showed up after you freed yourself from that cave. SHIELD found parts of the armor with a Stark Industries label stamped on them. It’s either you or several supervillains.”

“Bet you don’t know that the Hulk is Bruce Banner either,” Clint added.

Oh. That made sense. “I was working on it.”

“So when and where do we start?” Clint asked.

Tony checked his phone. “Um, probably right now. Loki’s been spotted in New York.”

~~~~~

Steve was having one of his average days, where he trained by himself, ate by himself, and now was reading in his bed by himself. He was going through his assigned reading list book by book. He had hope that being invited to debriefings would lead to being invited to missions. But it turned out that Fury’s threats were not to be taken lightly. He was grounded at SHIELD headquarters in his not-so temporary quarters for the foreseeable future.

Then came furious knocking at the door. “Steve Rogers?”

He sat up straighter in his bed. No one called him plain-old Steve Rogers. No one. “Yes?”

“I -- um, we -- we’ve come to rescue you,” the familiar voice said.

Steve got out of bed to open the door. “Tony?” he asked. “You’re Iron Man?”

Tony, in the distinctive red and gold armor, stood dumbstruck at the door. His eyes ran up and down Steve’s boxer-clad but mostly naked body even though he gallantly tried to look Steve in the eye. “Yeah. And I’m guessing that you might be Captain America. Where have you been the past several years?”

“SHIELD found me in suspended animation in an ice floe.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense. Probably.” Tony swallowed again. “Um, well, we need your help to fight Loki.”

“Now?” Steve’s mind immediately started the calculations. His uniform was stored in a locker two floors below -- it would take about ten minutes if they weren’t interrupted to retrieve it. Add in a few minutes for him to get dressed. At least Fury had allowed him to keep the shield in his room. Then how long would it take to get to wherever Loki was? The other part of his brain was shrieking how great Tony looked in the armor, especially those amazing eyes of his. Steve could look into those eyes forever.

“Could you stop staring at each other long enough to get going? We’ve got a supervillain to catch,” Natasha snapped.

“Loki,” Tony repeated.

“I have to get my uniform --”

“Already covered, Cap!” Clint said throwing the uniform at Steve over Tony’s head. 

“Quinjet in 10 minutes,” Natasha said. “Or we and New York are toast.”

~~~~~

Steve should have been more impressed with Loki’s invading army than he was. “Is this it?” he asked as they confronted a shadowy horde in Central Park. Steve was more interested in figuring where they were in Central Park, but it was night and Clint had landed them in a small open space. 

“That seems to be it,” Clint replied. “I can take the right if Tony takes the left.”

“I’ll mow down the middle,” Tony offered.

“That’s not a great plan,” Steve replied. As they blasted Loki’s soldiers, more of the shadowy skeleton creatures spawned from the ground and dark elves streamed through a portal. It wasn’t hard to destroy them -- the hard part was that more of them kept coming. “We have to deal with Loki first.”

The bony creatures and elven army surged forward, knocking down several police officers as they rushed towards Steve and his newly found friends. Steve steadied himself holding the shield so that the soldiers would break over him and lose their momentum. At least, he could knock them out.

“So are you free to go get coffee sometime?” Tony asked on his left. Tony was leveling Loki’s army wherever he aimed his repulsors.

“I would like that,” Steve said as he took out a wide swath of soldiers. Fury couldn’t stop him from going to coffee with Tony, even if he tried to command Steve from talking to Tony. It was still a free country as far as Steve could tell from the news. 

“Stop flirting!” Clint shouted. “We’ve got a Hulk coming in.”

Hulk loomed up large behind Loki. Steve had seen the footage, but the size of the Hulk had not really registered until that moment. At least he had a team with him. 

“He’s not a bad guy,” Tony said. “Just mind-controlled.”

“How do we set him free?”

“Hit him hard?” Natasha suggested. “That might be the fastest way.”

Clint shook his head in disagreement. “Have you seen the Hulk in action? He’ll crush us first.”

There was blinding flash of light and a man decked out in what looked like Viking armor appeared. He aimed his hammer to shoot a lightning bolt at Loki. He turned to Steve and Tony. “I am Thor of Asgard, here to retrieve my wayward brother, Loki.”

“I am conquering Midgard for the greater glory of Asgard,” Loki shouted back.

“We do not require Midgard for our kingdom,” Thor bellowed back. “Come back with me, Loki, and all will be forgiven.”

Tony hit Loki’s portal with a well-place repulsor beam, shutting it down. Clint shot a few well-aimed arrows at Loki, nearly knocking his helmet off. 

“That was good aim,” Steve said.

Clint grinned. “Good enough to send these arrows anywhere I want and have them hit the target.”

Thor grimaced. “Do not hurt Loki -- he is a prince of Asgard and my brother, even if he is misbehaving.”

“But he’s attacking us,” Natasha pointed out. “And he’s caused massive damage.”

“I can return him to Asgard, where he will answer for his deeds, be they good or bad.”

Cap offered, “Maybe that’s our plan -- corner Loki and let Thor --”

“Attack these foul creatures and end their unceasing chatter,” Loki commanded the Hulk. The Hulk shook his head, reluctant to move forward. “I will make you --!”

Thor charged at the Hulk, shooting lightning bolts from his hammer. One bolt finally landed on the Hulk, wreathing him in flashing lights. Hulk shifted from foot to foot, clearly unbalanced by the lightning strike, until he felt backwards on his rear. Thor closed in to land the final blows to knock him unconscious.

“No, wait,” Steve called out.

“Cap?” Tony asked.

“I want to try to reach him. All the news reports are wrong -- he doesn’t mean to harm people.”

Steve approached the Hulk while the rest of the team fought with the panicking remains of Loki’s army. Dazed, Hulk was getting back on his feet. 

“Hello,” Steve said.

Hulk shook his head in amazement. “Hi,” he replied.

“We could use your help, Big Guy, if you don’t mind, against Loki.” 

Hulk took a deep breath. “You need Hulk?”

“Yes, we do,” Steve replied.

“Where did Loki go, Flag-man?”

“Over there,” Natasha yelled, pointing at the running figure in green.

“Got him,” Hulk said with a grin.

With Thor and Hulk on their side, they quickly mopped up Loki’s soldiers. Just in time for the bulk of SHIELD with Fury at the head to arrive. Fury jumped out of his car and strode angrily over to Steve and Tony, who were holding a handcuffed Loki, now nursing a concussion.

“We’ll take over from here,” he announced. He glared at Natasha and Clint.

“The prisoners are all tied up for SHIELD,” Steve said. “Thor has a claim on Loki to take him back to Asgard for punishment.”

“And what did I tell you about leaving headquarters?”

“I am grateful for all that you’ve done for me, Director Fury, but I have a new team now and I’ll be working with them,” Steve said.

Fury snarled at Steve. “What are you saying?”

“I’m part of this team now.”

“And what team is that?”

Natasha said, “The Avengers.”

“We’ll work on a mission statement later, something like Earth’s Mightiest Heroes or something like that,” Tony added. “But, yeah, we’re the Avengers.”

Steve gave him the biggest, brightest smile ever and Tony nearly melted into his jet boots. “Thanks, Tony,” he said. “Nice to be on a team.”

“Nice to have you with us.”

~~~~~

After all that, Tony gladly put the new team up in his family’s mansion on 5th Avenue. The press immediately dubbed it the Avengers’ Mansion. Tony had to admit that he enjoyed having a team around to back him up. Fury wasn’t happy, but Cap was and the rest of the Avengers were and that was what mattered.

Captain America was just Steve now. A guy who wore jeans and a blue shirt and was sitting right there in the Avengers mansion kitchen reading fan mail and drinking coffee. Tony could lean against the counter with his coffee and watch him all day long.

And he was never going to tire of Steve’s beautiful smile which he was shooting at Tony. “I didn’t see you there,” he confessed.

“Just came up from the workshop.” Tony took a deep breath. “So where do you want to go for our night out?” 

It was a date, they both knew it was a date, but something in Tony was still in denial that Captain America was his boyfriend. Hell, they could be getting married and Tony would be in shock that Captain America would want to marry him. No, Steve. He would be in shock that someone as amazing as Steve ever decided to date him to begin with. 

“We could stay in, maybe Netflix and chill?” Steve offered.

Tony raised an eyebrow and began to ask if Steve knew what he was asking. The slight blush on Steve’s cheeks gave him away. Tony laughed instead. 

“Lots of options to choose from, big guy.”

Steve grinned. “We may not finish what we start watching.”

Tony wrapped his arms around Steve’s shoulders and gave him a kiss. “I wouldn’t mind that one bit.”


End file.
